On Broken Wings (A Wild Aces Romance, #3)

by Chanel Cleeton

The author of Into the Blue and Fly with Me returns with the third high-flying Wild Aces romance...

A year after losing her husband, Joker, the squadron commander of the Wild Aces, Dani Peterson gets an offer from his best friend, Alex “Easy” Rogers, to help fix up her house. Dani accepts, and their friendship grows—along with an undeniable attraction.

Racked by guilt for loving his best friend’s widow, Easy’s caught between what he wants and can’t have. Until one night everything changes, and the woman who’s always held his heart ends up in his arms. Yet as Easy leaves for his next deployment, he and Dani are torn between their feelings and their loyalty to Joker’s memory. 

But when Dani discovers something that sends them both into a spin, the conflicted lovers must overcome the past to navigate a future together...

• ISBN10: 1101987006
• ISBN13: 9781101987001
• Publish Date: 3 January 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101987001

Reviews

[leelu92]

I think I set a record for acquiring the book to read (via NG) starting it and finishing it. To be honest, I'm still a little emotionally raw from this book, but it hurts so good.

I stayed up way late to finish this one, I had to have Easy and Dani's story, I had to have their HEA. I laughed, cried and swooned and I know I'm going to read this one again, just as I have the books the before this one. I'd gladly pick it up and re-read it immediately if I weren't a bit emotionally spent.

This is such an incredible, heartfelt book, Cleeton knows how to reach in, grab my heart, squeeze it a bit and then make it all worth it.

I'll have more to say when it releases but this was a no brainer 5 star book for me. Broken Wings was everything that I hoped for and more.

[EBookObsessed]

DNF

This was such a sad story I couldn’t finish. I will give the author kudos for being able to write a story that made you feel so much, but I just didn’t have the heart to finish it.
The story starts about a year after Dani lost her husband and best friend. She talks about her miscarriage just before her husband passed and how hard she thought that loss was but they had each other and hope that they would one day have a family. Now all those dreams were wiped away in only a moment.

After losing my Dad last year and watching everything my mother was going through after losing her best friend, I found it to be too much to read as all this in a first person perspective, and had to put it down. It has been a few months, but I simply haven’t had the desire to pick it up again.

What did bother me about the dynamics of the story was the fact that Alex was always in love with Dani. He fell under the spell the moment he met her but once he realized she was Joker’s wife, he stuffed all of that desire away. He never interfered with their relationship. He never made a move on another guys wife. And the longer her got to know her, the deeper he fell.

Alex was also there to help Dani whenever she needed something, and always as a friend. Even after his friend died, he didn’t make a move on Dani.

So the problem I had (with what I read) was that when her friends finally started pushing her to try to date and move forward with her life, no one said anything about Alex. They all knew he loved her but no one said, have you thought about starting something with Alex. They saw Alex, nicknamed Easy for the easy way he had with women, as non-committal and never said to themselves, “Hey, maybe he doesn’t get serious with any of these girls because they don’t measure up to his devotion to Dani.” Even if they were concerned that he could break her heart no one bothered to sit him down and talk to him. He might be all about one night stands with strange women, but he has always been there for Dani.

That part was pissing me off while Dani’s loss of her husband was depressing me.

I would again state that the author did a great job of making us feel both Alex’s angst at being kept in the friend zone and Dani’s loss and pain, but it was a little too much under the circumstances for me to read.

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


When I met Alex 'Easy' Rogers in Fly with Me, I knew his story would kill my insides. He has a reputation of being a ladies man, but he's so very loyal. He falls for Dani, his commander's wife. He has kept those feelings inside, but it always tortured him to see her with him. What he does is be there for her as a friend. As a result, Dani always seeks for him. When Dani's husband and Easy's best friend passes away, Dani is completely distraught and Easy thinks he should have died instead. It's because of their tight friendship and Easy's support that Dani is able to slowly move on. When they reach an uncharted territory in their friendship, Dani steps back, thinking she's betraying her husband, and thinking Easy doesn't really wants her.

I loved her, and loving someone was more about them than you, so it didn’t matter what I wanted.

Easy and Dani's journey was very heartbreaking, but so beautiful. I loved how Easy was. He totally surprised me! We always see him being a ladies man so to see this whole other side of him of being sweet, tender, caring, understanding, and loyal, my heart was going in a frenzy. He was silently suffering all this time because he couldn't have Dani and now that he can, he wishes he wasn't alive. It was so sad! The way he would treat Dani had me swooning! He's perfection. And Dani... Oh sweet Dani, my heart broke for her. Her loss still affects her greatly and at times, she doesn't know how to function. Having Easy there for her was all she needed to pick herself back up. After what happens between them, she can't believe she has feelings for her late husband's best friend, but it makes sense to fall for someone like Easy. She knew she had found a sort of security in him.

My world had been shaken enough in the past year, and considering Easy was my rock, I couldn’t handle the possibility of losing that, too.

I wish they had spent more time as a couple. Most of the book is spent with them trying to not be together, mostly on Dani's part, that we don't get to see much of them once they become official. I wish we had gotten more of that because the little we got was brilliant. I loved how it all started with a tight friendship and slowly moved to form a strong bond between Alex and Dani.

Overall, On Broken Wings is an emotional and loving conclusion to this great series.

I received an ARC from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Coffee dates (and truffles) with On Broken Wings

First date: The Wild Aces series features a squadron of F-16 pilots and the women who steal their hearts.  The Wild Aces fly together and play together, so we get to know all of them throughout the series. I recommend reading these books in order. The emotional connection that forms with each story will only enhance your reading experience. It had been a year since Dani lost her husband and Easy struggles between being there for her and his feelings. I was so worried about how everything would work in this story, but Cleeton pulled me in from the very fist page.

Second date: All of the feels!!! We get updates on the other couples, see Easy, struggle and watch Dani notice Easy in a new light. I love that theirs is a friendship to lovers romance. The story will tug at your heartstrings. Cleeton did such a fantastic job of connecting the reader emotionally to their story. While this story to me was low-heat, we do get some sizzling hot moments.  We get to melt along with Dani as Cleeton describes in glorious detail what Dani is suddenly noticing about Easy. The man is pantie melting eye candy with a heart of pure gold.

Third date: Confusion, guilt, need, and more swirl around this couple. At this point, I am completely caught up in the story. Not even a fire could move me from my Kindle. A plot twist didn't surprise me, in fact, the moment something happened I knew how it would play out. Normally I am not a fan of this particular trope, but never have I been happier.  This last date had me laughing, crying, wiping tears, hugging myself and savoring every word. Despite the emotional trauma for the reader, the tale was low in angst. Folks acted like adults and Cleeton didn't rush things, allowing the reader to experiences everything.

Copy provided by publisher, This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Sam@WLABB]

I had wanted Easy's story since book 1. When we learned of her unrequited love for Dani, I knew this would be good. When I found out I won an ARC, I was simply beside myself with joy. I am glad to say, this book delivered a beautiful story.

A year after the death of her husband, Dani is still mourning her loss, and Easy is trying to keep his distance out of respect for his fallen friend. Each of them are missing the friendship of the other, and eventually, they begin spending more and more time together.

This was a slow burn. The friendship rekindled, and it took quite a while for that love to be mutual, or at least for Dani to catch up to Easy. There are a lot of really heartfelt moments. Cleeton did such a good job illustrating the pain of loss and the guilt of wanting to move on. Dani had so many warranted concerns, and Cleeton tackled them. I laughed, I cried, I swooned.

[Cocktails and Books]

Dear Lord! I just loved Easy and Dani's story. Easy wore his love for Dani on his sleeve and made it hard to not want to scream at Dani to open her eyes. Such a great end to this series. ❤️❤️❤️